Ruskin, John (1819-1900)

The inscription shows that this was drawn on the day after the study of Gentians at Les Rousses in Switzerland; the diary notebook for 1882 (RF MS 23, cat. no. 28) includes a list containing the entry: "24. Ajuga, a mountain form of my strange white one, drawn in small book Q. ajuga repens." St. Cergues is an Alpine village often visited by Ruskin.
Ruskin clearly mis-identified this plant for the delicate watercolour depicts Mountain Germander (Teucrium montanum L.; Deadnettle family – Lamiaceae), that occurs on dry screes and dry, calcarious pastures in the Alps.